New Hampshire Republicans Propose Bill To Eliminate Workers’ Lunch Breaks

http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2012/02/08/421510/new-hampshire-gop-repeal-lunch/

By Pat Garofalo on Feb 8, 2012 at 3:00 pm

New Hampshire’s GOP legislature has come up with all manner of absurd bills recently, including a proposal making public school curriculum optional, another to prevent police from protecting domestic abuse victims, and even a measure mandating that new laws be based on the Magna Carta. Some of the Granite State’s GOP lawmakers have even proposed doing away with the law that requires employers to give their workers time off for lunch, under the rationale that all employers will simply grant lunch breaks out of the goodness of their hearts:

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Of course, not every employer can be counted to to follow even the easiest of requirements to look after workers’ health and rights. Back in 2005, Walmart was forced to pay $172 million for denying workers their lunch breaks. Pyramid Breweries Inc. settled a case in 2008 for $1.5 million. Just a few months ago, California ordered Embassy Suites to pay workers tens of thousands of dollars for forcing them to skip breaks.

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If it were true that companies would give lunch breaks out of the goodness of their hearts, what is the law hurting, and why spend time and money changing it?

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